Religious literature, resignifications of Islam and construction of the ummah in an islamic institution of the city of Córdoba

Abstract

This article is an ethnographic study on the ways in which an Islamic institution of Arab origin of the city of Córdoba transmits and teaches Islam through the use of religious literature and the resignification of the Sunni tradition. The objective is to investigate how some members -shaijs, institutional leaders, Arab descendants and converts- re-signify narratives of the Sunni tradition that deal with the symbolic transmission procedures considered strictly Islamic: writing and orality - memorization and recitation. It will be argued that, being valued as the primary forms of transmission of revelation, the institution sought to encourage the teaching and apprehension of Islamic doctrine and its values, imitating the imagined forms of communications of the time of the prophet. Preserving this custom in a Catholic-majority society represented a sign of distinction from which they built an ideal of a local Muslim community, delineated hierarchies within it and established borders with other religious groups. Throughout the article it will be shown, whitin field and bibliographical material, that the study of the circulation of islamic written culture and its modalities of appropriation allows to approach from a novel angle the recreation of belief, the reproduction of religious belongings and community construction.